Week: Jesus' Miracles
Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Jesus, we want to know You more and we want to better understand the way You want us to live. As we consider Your miracles, we prepare our hearts to follow You.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Annika
John 17:3
And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent.
John 17:3 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Crowds of people followed Jesus everywhere He went. They followed Him because they wanted to hear what He had to say, and because of the miracles that He did. Today we’re REFLECTING on the day a huge crowd had followed Jesus into the countryside. By the time evening arrived, they were all very hungry.
Read by Annika
John 6:9-11
[One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, said] ‘Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.’ Jesus said, ‘Tell the people to sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
John 6:9-11 (NCV)
Let’s try to imagine holding five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Now, let’s try to imagine sharing these out with 5000 people! Well… that’s what Jesus did, and John writes that there were 12 basketfuls of food left over!
Before they began to share out the bread and the fish, the disciples were worried – surely they were going to run out? But afterwards, they were astonished – they had more food leftover than when they started! Jesus felt compassion for the people, and so He didn’t just meet their needs, He did a miracle – He did ‘much, much more than anything [they could] ask or imagine.’ (Eph. 3:20, NCV)
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: When can we remember sharing a meal with lots of people? What was the occasion and what did we eat?
When Jesus held the bread and the fish, the first thing He did was thank God for them – He thanked God for what He did have, and then as the bread and fish was shared around, it multiplied it into what they didn’t have.
Lord God, we’re grateful for all the good things that we do have – food, friendships, families, the home that we live in, and so much more – thank you for all of this. And then we also ASK You to help us believe in miracles – help us to believe that You can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.
According to research, about 9% of the world’s population are not only hungry, but they live in extreme poverty.* And some of these people live closer to us than we may think.
Lord God, we pray for those in our city – maybe even in our neighbourhood – who are hungry today. We ASK You to help them find the food that they need. And then we also pray for ourselves, and for churches, Food Banks and other organisations – give us compassion, and show us how we can meet people’s needs in our community.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
John 6:9-11 (NCV)
[One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, said] “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.” Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
John 6:9-11 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, we say YES, we will follow You. We want to feel what You feel – to have compassion for everyone around us – and we want to have faith like You too – to believe in God’s power to do much, much more than we can ask or imagine.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
John 17:3
And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent.
John 17:3 (NCV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Chris lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two boys. He works for 24-7 Prayer Australia and Red Church and is also a professional musician. When he’s not working or drumming Chris enjoys going on long hikes in the mountains with his boys and playing table tennis.
Annika is 10 years old and lives in Melbourne, Australia with her parents and older brother and sister. Annika enjoys playing Cricket and Aussie Rules Football and loves going to watch her favourite team play football. Annika also learns the drums and enjoys making up her own beats!
